


Freedom of the Road

by Taupefox59



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Gen, Motorcycles, Sturgis Rally, a bit of h/c, family love, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 15:04:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7320040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taupefox59/pseuds/Taupefox59
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the family moves to Florida, Fili gets a motorcycle, and Kili gets left behind.</p><p>When Dis and Fili realize, they plan a trip to rectify the space that has grown between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Best Birthday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PadBlack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PadBlack/gifts), [Khafushun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khafushun/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the family moves across the country, Fili gets on well. Kili has a bit more trouble. Luckily the family figures out just the right cure for Kili's blues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is originally from Fikiweek last year. It's getting moved to it's own event, because now it's got a sequel/epilogue thing!
> 
> So I wanted to have it all in one place.
> 
> For PadBlack who is my motorcycle riding friend. <3 Ride on! <3
> 
> Un-beta'd, so if you catch anything, please let me know! constructive criticism always welcome!

The move to Erebor from Ered luin had been difficult, but worth it. Thorin had managed to scrape his company back together after an attempted hostile takeover by Smaug. Dís had a good job at the mine, but after it was shut down for failing several safety inspections, she was willing to look for a new position.

It had been hard, especially for the boys. They hid it well, (or so they thought) but Dís could tell. Before they’d left, there had been a certain amount of rivalry between them - teenaged squabbles over personal space and pecking order. The new house in Erebor had been small, just a temporary thing, but their attempts at volunteering to share a room had been anything but subtle.

Where before, there had been two very distinct groups of children who could be found filling the living room and eating anything to be found in the kitchen that remotely resembled edible food, now, there was a step of hesitance in them. They would reach to each other before anyone else. Part of Dís was glad for it; that her children were managing to cross the turbulent waters of puberty and maintain a bond of friendship, as well as brotherhood. Part of her worried though; she wanted them to have their own lives, what if began to depend too much on each other? What if they felt forced together and grew to resent it?

So when Fíli began to looking for an after-school job, Dís was very encouraging. It was part-time because he still had homework, and it was minimum-wage, but he saved most of it, and it wasn’t very long until the day he mentioned getting a vehicle. She quickly offered to match whatever he came up with, and help with insurance payments (as long as he kept up with school and stayed out of trouble.)

Dís remembered her first car; it had been a beat up old Volvo that had come with 80,00 miles on it, a trunk that only opened when it got pounded on, and a paint job that was three separate colours, plus some rust. She’d named it Manwë and driven it for nearly seven years, crossing the country every summer, making the trip from the family homestead near the mines in the Montana Rockies down to where her brothers were trying to carve out a business in the heavy competition of Miami, Florida. Manwë had finally died with the dignity of a hero, her final summer of University. She’d gotten home from her yearly trip, and the very next day she simply wouldn’t start. Dís had called up a mechanic to find out what was wrong, only to find out the answer was ‘pretty much everything.’ With a little over 200,000 miles on her, Manwë had been put to rest.

Those trips were golden moments in Dís’s memory: the mountainous cassette collection that had lived under the passenger seat, the stained and torn maps collecting in the glove compartment. The ticket stubs from movies and state parks and concerts thrown on the dashboard. More than anything, though, Dís remembered the freedom. How much it had meant to be able to get away from the house she shared with her parents and brothers. The late nights with her friends, because for the first time she could pick everyone up.

It hadn’t been what she expected when Fíli walked up to her, dragged her over to the computer to look at a craigslist page.

“This one, Amâd. Would you still help?”

She looked at the page, and then her son, fairly vibrating with anticipation and excitement.

“You’re taking a safety course first.” She said.

He threw himself at her, hugging her tightly. “Of course Amâd! Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

She smiled, and hugged him back, heart aching with love. It wasn’t what she had expected, but it hardly mattered.

It was a month for weekend classes, a trip to the DMV to take the practical exam and update his license, but the day after Fíli drove up to the house on his Harley Davidson Softail his smile easily rivaled the sun. 

Kíli tried to pretend that he was fine with it; and of course, for the most part, he was. He wasn’t about to begrudge his brother the clear happiness that he got from his bike. But, at the same time he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being left behind. They’d both left their friends behind in the move from the mountains of Montana to the beaches of Florida, but Fíli had managed to fill his life with progress. Fíli was in high school, Fíli had a job, Fíli bought himself a motorcycle.

And Kíli... Kíli had nothing that could compare. His grades were alright, but his attempts at sports had sputtered and failed when he’d been unable to find any friends on the track team. He wasn’t old enough to get a real job; he’d finally gotten an after-school paper route, when he couldn’t face another afternoon spent in the library pretending to his family that ‘of course he had people to hang out with’. (Though he had gotten to know Ori, who, underneath his initial persona of bookish and quiet was wickedly sharp and sarcastic, and sometimes even faster to pick a fight than Kíli himself.)

The day that Fíli left to get his bike, Kíli spent the morning in his room, staring out the window, and willing himself to believe that it wasn’t just Fíli trying to get farther away from him. When Fíli had pulled into the driveway, Kíli had ran out the house, and fawned over the machine as Fíli rattled off the specs, and spoke of all of the adventures now within his reach. Kíli had been able to smile along and coast the waves of his brothers enthusiasm. He was honestly happy for his brother. It would be fine. They would be fine.

The next year was hard for Kíli. Fíli had his friends from school, often dragging home Nori and Bofur to work on ‘group projects’. Fíli had his friends from work; his stories at dinner were filled with the antics of Oin, Gloin and Bifur.

Kíli had Ori but they had few classes together. He had made friends with a girl named Tauriel, but she lived outside on the far side of the city, so it was hard for them to find time to spend together.

Kíli’s favourite days where the bright, sunny Saturdays when Fíli wasn’t working; when Fíli would throw him the spare helmet they had and say “Come on! We’re going for a ride!”, and together they would go wherever they felt like. Sometimes the beach, sometimes inland to the mangroves. Sometimes they would just drive, with no destination in mind at all; stopping at roadside attractions and state parks, with parking lots full of RV’s and golf carts, where they would get ice cream and look for the tackiest magnets they could possibly find to bring home for the refrigerator.

Those days were the best, but Kíli knew better than to ask for them. What was he supposed to say, that he missed the brother he still lived with? That he was too pathetic to be able to fill up his weekends with plans of his own? So, Kíli stayed silent and spent his days hoping that this weekend, this weekend, Fíli would hand him the helmet and tell him they were going somewhere.

Fíli knew that Kíli was sad. Or, maybe not sad, but definitely something. His rambunctious little brother seemed to be wilting before his eyes, and Fíli didn’t know how to help. He finally ran out of room for denial with the approach of Kíli’s sixteenth birthday. He’d casually asked if Kíli was thinking of anything he wanted to do for the occasion, and in response he’d gotten a fake smile and a shrug.

“No. Not really.” Kíli had said, “Just whatever. Maybe hang out with Ori. See if Tauriel could come round for a while.”

And Fíli had known then that he needed back-up. He went to Dís.

“Amâd. What are we doing for Kíli this year?” He asked.

“What does Kíli want us to do this year?” She asked in turn, raising an eyebrow at the question. She hadn’t expected to be met with a sigh.

“Has he said something to you?” She asked.

“No. That’s the problem.” Fíli said. “This is Kíli. Since when do we have to ask to find out what he wants?” He frowned. “When did he stop talking to me Amâd?”

“Oh, Fíli,” She said, stepping forward and drawing him into a hug, “He’s just having a hard time right now.”

“He used to talk to me when he was having a hard time.” Fíli said, not quite able to keep the upset from his voice. He pushed his face into her shoulder, absorbing the comfort she offered.

“Have you tried talking to him?” Dís asked.

“Well, no, but-”

“That’s usually a good place to start, Fíli.” She said, managing to keep the chuckle out her voice.

“How?” Fíli asked, finally pulling away to look at her. Kíli was usually so open about everything. He didn’t know how to actually ask his brother to share with him. It had never really come up before.

“Have you given him any time to talk to you?” She asked.

“What?”

“You’re both busy. When was the last time you spent time together?”

Fíli frowned for a moment and thought back, realizing with a start that this was something he actually had to think about. That...that could actually be the entire problem, now that he was thinking about it within that frame of reference. “I guess - I guess we both have been busy. It’s...we went for a ride a couple of weeks ago. We talked then.”

“Then maybe you should take him for another ride. Give him a chance to say something.”

Fíli nodded, but had the sinking feeling that it would take more than an afternoon on a bike to cross the divide that had grown between him and his brother; the divide that he was beginning to think was maybe more his own fault than he was comfortable with.

Fíli found his brother sitting at the table, surrounded by books and scrawled notes. Kíli wasn’t working though; wasn’t even tapping his pencil on the table in with his usually endless reserves of distracted energy. Kíli was staring out the window, completely still, with the hint of a frown tugging at his lips. Fíli’s heart twisted. How long had this been his brother? How long had it been since he’d stopped looking? He shook his head and shut those thoughts out. It didn’t matter how long it had been; he’d noticed now, and he was going to do something about it. He walked over on silent feet and shoved his hand into Kíli’s hair, ruffling it into all different direction.

Kíli jerked at the unexpected touch. “Fí!” he whined, ducking away from the assault.

“You look far too serious.” Fíli said. He meant it truthfully, but he made sure to keep his tone light. The last thing he wanted to do was scare his brother away.

Kíli finally managed to bat Fíli’s hand away from his hair. “Shut up.” He said, faking a pout. He only managed to hold it for a moment before he broke into a smile.

Fíli smiled back, feeling better with the confirmation that he still knew how to cheer his brother up. “Do you have plans for the weekend?” Fíli asked.

“No.” Kíli said, “Homework. The usual. Why?”

“The weather’s supposed to be nice. I’ve got Saturday off. You wanna go somewhere?”

It took all of Kíli’s self control not to pounce on the offer. “Yeah. Sure. That could be fun.” Internally he congratulated himself for being able to play it cool.

“Good,” Fíli said with a nod. He was elated. A spark that had jumped back into his brother’s eyes at the suggestion. Maybe they weren’t so bad off after all. “I look forward to it.” He reached over to give Kíli’s hair a final tug before heading off to his own homework. 

In truth, Kíli did know what he wanted for his birthday. It just wasn’t something he could ask for. He wanted a bike, just like Fíli’s. He’d been saving, but it was hard when he only had the meagre income of a paper route. For months, he’d been clearing the search history, after scouring the internet for bikes that were closer to his price range. What he’d found had been far from the powerful elegance of his brother’s softail, but Kíli just wanted something, anything, that meant he could be on the road with his brother, instead of dependent on lucky breaks in scheduling.

When he’d picked up the driver’s safety study booklet for getting his driver’s license, he’d taken the one for the motorcycle endorsement as well.  
But Fíli had done it on his own. How could Kíli ask for one?

Dís wasn’t sure if Fíli had managed to have his talk with Kíli, or if it was simply the prospect of an afternoon together, but Kíli was noticeably brighter for the rest of the week. Though it did worry her that the exuberance in her youngest was so noticeable. She’d noticed that he’d been smiling less, but it had been a slow thing. It wasn’t until she saw him bouncing in his familiar way that she realized how long it had been since he’d seemed so carefree and happy. Fíli wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been paying attention. She promised herself that she would do better. 

It was Saturday night, and the boys had just gotten back. They’d decided to go to the beach. The motorcycle was in its place in the driveway, and Kíli was showering off the last of the salt and sand from the day.

Fíli walked up to Dís and said “I know what we need to do for Kíli.”

“Oh?” She said

“We need to get him a bike.”

It wasn’t what she expected, but the instant he said it, she knew he was right. But there was something more, too. Something else, to get everyone back on the same page.

“I have an idea.” She said, and then she smiled. “What would you say about taking some time off?”

As their plan came together, it was harder and harder to keep it a secret. School let out for the summer, and any absences were significantly more conspicuous. However Dís was good at keeping up appearances. They’d also pulled in Thorin for help with getting everything planned in secret - not that Thorin himself was actually very good at keeping secrets, but his partner Bilbo was helpful beyond all measure.

The day before Kíli’s birthday, they’d planned him a party, mostly as a distraction. Ori and Nori would be there, though Nori was mostly Fíli’s friend. They’d even managed to get Tauriel, even though Dís had to make the drive the city to go out and pick her up. They’d spent the day at a park, playing in the green grass, and doing their best to eat their way through the truly massive amount of food that Dís had packed.

When the morning of Kíli’s birthday arrived, however, Fíli was the one to wake up with the sun, unable to sleep for excitement. Silently, he walked to the closet, and reached into the pocket of his rarely-used winter coat. It was the perfect hiding spot.

Gift in hand, he raced back to his brother’s room and flung open the door. With all of the enthusiasm of a small child after too much sugar, he lept onto the bed. “Kee!” He said, shaking his brother, “Kíli, wake up!” He was met with a lethargic groan as Kíli tried to hide beneath the covers.

“Mmmm, Fíli, no. It’s early.”

“Get up! It’s your birthday!”

“So let me sleeeeep.” Kíli said. letting his words slur out as he stubbornly tried to resist his brother.

“No! I have your present! You have to get up!”

“Fiiiii, why-” Kíli grumbled, attempting to burrow deeper into his bedding.

Fíli would not relent, and stole the pillow, bouncing with excitement,“Are you awake?”

“Fine.” Kíli grumbled, sitting up, and blinking the sleep from his eyes, “What do you want?”

Breathless and smiling, Fíli pressed the tiny package into the palm of his brother’s hand.

Kíli stared dumbly at the thing. His first thought was that it was tiny. Shorter than his thumb, it was light, vaguely thimble-shaped, and wrapped thickly in layers of paper and tape. “Fíli, what-”

“Open it!” Fíli said. He was smiling so brightly that his cheeks were starting to hurt from it.

Kíli gave him an unimpressed look, but began the task of peeling through the tape.

It took an absurdly long time to get through the wrapping(though Fíli was actually quite proud of it. He’d used almost an entire roll of tape sticking it together). Finally, Kíli managed to tear away the last of the paper, and he was struck into silence. In his hand was a bell on a keychain. It was pewter, and embossed with the image of angel rising up over a range of mountains. Eyes wide, he looked at Fíli, not willing to believe until he had some sign of confirmation.

“Fee.” He said softly, “This - Is this a gremlin bell?”

Fíli smiled back, but kept his voice gentle in the face of his brother’s hesitation. “It’s bad luck if you have to get your own.”

Kíli stared.

Fíli held out his hand. “Come on!”

Taking the offered hand, Kíli allowed himself to be pulled out of bed and hauled out to the living room. Dís stood by the window and smiled at the sight of her two boys.

“Amâd,” Kíli said, “What-”

“Come see!” Fíli said, cutting him off and dragging him to the window.

There in the driveway, next to Fíli’s familiar softail, were two other bikes.

Kíli’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

Dís smiled, and handed her youngest a map.

He stared at it, before looking up at her in confusion. “South Dakota?”

“Open it.” She said.

Slowly, Kíli unfolded the map, only to find a thick line of red permanent marker traced along I-75, to where Sturgis, South Dakota was circled.

“Fíli and I realized we both had some time off this summer.” She said.

Kíli had a moment where he didn’t know what to do. He’d be lying if he said he’d never imagined this, but he’d never thought it would be anything more than a daydream. And never had he thought that there would be the possibility of a proper trip. He opened his mouth, and then closed it. What could he possibly say?  
He threw down the map, and pulled his mother and brother in for a bone-crushing hug.


	2. To Sturgis, And Beyond!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family heads to Sturgis, South Dakota

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might...quite probably...get re-written to be less of a love-letter to road trips and South Dakota and more of a story, but that's what it is. Just. A love letter.
> 
> for khafushun who gave me the prompt for a sequel a million years ago as a birthday prompt. <3

Somehow, Dís and Fíli had both managed to get three entire weeks off from work. Kíli wasn’t sure how they managed it, but he didn’t ask, too excited by the idea of the upcoming trip. Dis even managed to somehow secure them a camping spot in Custer National Park, which was close enough they could drive to anything they wanted to see, but far enough away that Dís didn’t have to worry about her kids seeing anything not meant for the eyes of the under-age.

Kíli wound up taking his motorcycle training course with his mother, but he didn’t even pretend to mind. Instead he sat next to her during every lecture, soaking up the time he got to spend with his family. 

When finally the day arrived that Kíli and Dís both got their motorcycle licenses, they went on their first family trip. Dís took the lead, and though they all had bluetooth installed in their helmets so they could communicate, she still lead them with Iglishmek. It was useful and she figured they needed the practice anyway. She was the one who called turns and when to stop, as well as warning of oncoming traffic. It was her job to let her children know when they could spread out, or when they needed to be in single file, depending on traffic.

Once they got used to traveling in a group, they could prepare for the long ride to South Dakota. Fíli had his brown leathers, Kíli got kitted out in blue, and Dís was in the traditional black.

Her one last surprise for her boys was the giant patch she got for the backs of their jackets; done up in silver and green was the sigil of Durin’s line. Family Colors, she called them. 

 

The trip up itself was magical - except for when they went through rain or clouds of insects. There was no faster way to get absolutely soaked then to try and ride through the rain. They found themselves making all kinds of friends hiding below overpasses as groups of bikers hid underneath overpasses for the rain to clear.

They started with a stop at Kuzdu Antiques in Decatur, Georgia, which was full of some of the strangest home decor that any of them had ever seen. It was the kind of place where a person wouldn’t be surprised to actually find a leg lamp. There were all kinds of strange chairs and coat racks in the shape of arms. They left entertained, and more than a little weirded out by the stuff that actually got  _ made _ in the world, with the expectation of somehow being  _ bought _ by someone.

When they hit Nashville Tennessee, instead of a hotel, Dís sprung for an overnight spelunking trip at the Cumberland Caverns. The entire family had always been particularly interested in geology, and Dís had booked tours at every cave site she could find on the way to Sturgis.

They stopped at drive-in theaters and Mystery Spots and a Carousel museum. They found a bookstore in in Omaha Nebraska where the proprietor also ran a bat rescue, and the World’s Largest Ball of Stamps. 

Most of the bikers they passed didn’t wear helmets, but the entire family was grateful for them when they went through the unending cornfields, and the plagues of locusts that accompanied them. The bugs seemed to only get thicker as they neared the town of the Mitchell, South Dakota, corn capital of the U.S., and home of the infamous World’s Only Corn Palace.

 

South Dakota was more than Kíli ever could have imagined. The sheer number of motorcycles was astounding. Turn lanes had been blocked off to provide additional parking for bikes. Every single parking slot was filled with Harley Davidson motorcycles. Every restaurant was filled with laughter and people dressed in their biking leathers.

Aside from motorcycles though, there was so much to do in South Dakota. There were dinosaurs, and hot springs and the Badlands, which were stunning. It was like entering another world, where time had twisted and left bigger footprints in the world than anywhere else. 

After literally one thousand miles of billboards, they did stop at Wall Drug, in Wall, South Dakota.

They stopped at Mount Rushmore, and after being a bit disappointed in the size of it, they headed over to Crazy Horse monument, and where far more impressed. The entire sculpture of Mount Rushmore would fit on the forehead of Crazy Horse. Mount Rushmore was four faces in the side of a mountain. Crazy Horse was an  _ entire mountain _ . They left huge tips for the Lakota community that was privately funding the endeavour.

They visited the Crystal Caverns, which was one of the largest cave systems in the world, and was almost entirely covered in crystal. It was like walking through a giant geode. They took the all-day, lantern-lit tour, and the very walls of the cave sparkled with every step. It was like some grand space where a dragon would happily live out its days.

They wound up skipping most of sturgis itself, because they were so entranced by all of the wonders of the land around them. Custer park, where they were staying, was also in the migration trail of one of the last wild Bison herds (which Kíli delightedly found out was called an ‘Obstinancy’ of buffalo.)

The only problem with seeing the bison was the unreasonably hatred that bison had for motorcycles. They honestly didn’t believe the signs until they got on the trail and realized  _ just how big _ a buffalo truly was, and the terror when one started snorting ominously in your direction. 

They wound up crawling alongside a mini-van for protection.

 

The trip home was a jubilant buzz, riding high off the wind in their faces, and the craziness of the world, and the joy of experiencing it.  It wound up being one of the best times they’d ever had as a family, and even though they missed most of the topless shenanigans of the proper Sturgis rally, they all knew that they would be returning the next year, and they did.

Only, the next year, they were also accompanied by Thorin in black leather complete with the Durin patch, and Thorin’s husband Bilbo in an actual side-car, complete with goggles and scarf.


End file.
